Tomato hybrid dr7962th and parents thereof

ABSTRACT

The invention provides seed and plants of tomato hybrid DR7962TH and the parent lines thereof. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of tomato hybrid DR7962TH and the parent lines thereof, and to methods for producing a tomato plant produced by crossing such plants with themselves or with another tomato plant, such as a plant of another genotype. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of such plants, including the fruit and gametes of such plants.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of plant breeding and, morespecifically, to the development of tomato hybrid DR7962TH and theinbred tomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The goal of vegetable breeding is to combine various desirable traits ina single variety/hybrid. Such desirable traits may include any traitdeemed beneficial by a grower and/or consumer, including greater yield,resistance to insects or disease, tolerance to environmental stress, andnutritional value.

Breeding techniques take advantage of a plant's method of pollination.There are two general methods of pollination: a plant self-pollinates ifpollen from one flower is transferred to the same or another flower ofthe same plant or plant variety. A plant cross-pollinates if pollencomes to it from a flower of a different plant variety.

Plants that have been self-pollinated and selected for type over manygenerations become homozygous at almost all gene loci and produce auniform population of true breeding progeny, a homozygous plant. A crossbetween two such homozygous plants of different genotypes produces auniform population of hybrid plants that are heterozygous for many geneloci. Conversely, a cross of two plants each heterozygous at a number ofloci produces a population of hybrid plants that differ genetically andare not uniform. The resulting non-uniformity makes performanceunpredictable.

The development of uniform varieties requires the development ofhomozygous inbred plants, the crossing of these inbred plants, and theevaluation of the crosses. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection areexamples of breeding methods that have been used to develop inbredplants from breeding populations. Those breeding methods combine thegenetic backgrounds from two or more plants or various other broad-basedsources into breeding pools from which new lines and hybrids derivedtherefrom are developed by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes.The new lines and hybrids are evaluated to determine which of those havecommercial potential.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention provides a tomato plant of thehybrid designated DR7962TH, the tomato line FIRKL11-4118 or tomato lineFIRKL12-4123. Also provided are tomato plants having all thephysiological and morphological characteristics of such a plant. Partsof these tomato plants are also provided, for example, including pollen,an ovule, scion, a rootstock, a fruit, and a cell of the plant.

In another aspect of the invention, a plant of tomato hybrid DR7962THand/or tomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123 comprising an addedheritable trait is provided. The heritable trait may comprise a geneticlocus that is, for example, a dominant or recessive allele. In oneembodiment of the invention, a plant of tomato hybrid DR7962TH and/ortomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123 is defined as comprising asingle locus conversion. In specific embodiments of the invention, anadded genetic locus confers one or more traits such as, for example,herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, disease resistance, and modifiedcarbohydrate metabolism. In further embodiments, the trait may beconferred by a naturally occurring gene introduced into the genome of aline by backcrossing, a natural or induced mutation, or a transgeneintroduced through genetic transformation techniques into the plant or aprogenitor of any previous generation thereof. When introduced throughtransformation, a genetic locus may comprise one or more genesintegrated at a single chromosomal location.

The invention also concerns the seed of tomato hybrid DR7962TH and/ortomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123. The tomato seed of theinvention may be provided as an essentially homogeneous population oftomato seed of tomato hybrid DR7962TH and/or tomato lines FIRKL11-4118and FIRKL12-4123. Essentially homogeneous populations of seed aregenerally free from substantial numbers of other seed. Therefore, insome embodiments, seed of hybrid DR7962TH and/or tomato linesFIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123 may be defined as forming at least about97% of the total seed, including at least about 98%, 99% or more of theseed. The seed population may be separately grown to provide anessentially homogeneous population of tomato plants designated DR7962THand/or tomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a tissue culture of regenerablecells of a tomato plant of hybrid DR7962TH and/or tomato linesFIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123 is provided. The tissue culture willpreferably be capable of regenerating tomato plants capable ofexpressing all of the physiological and morphological characteristics ofthe starting plant, and of regenerating plants having substantially thesame genotype as the starting plant. Examples of some of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of the hybrid DR7962THand/or tomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123 include those traitsset forth in the tables herein. The regenerable cells in such tissuecultures may be derived, for example, from embryos, meristems,cotyledons, pollen, leaves, anthers, roots, root tips, pistils, flowers,seed and stalks. Still further, the present invention provides tomatoplants regenerated from a tissue culture of the invention, the plantshaving all the physiological and morphological characteristics of hybridDR7962TH and/or tomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123.

In still yet another aspect of the invention, processes are provided forproducing tomato seeds, plants and fruit, which processes generallycomprise crossing a first parent tomato plant with a second parenttomato plant, wherein at least one of the first or second parent tomatoplants is a plant of tomato line FIRKL11-4118 or tomato lineFIRKL12-4123. These processes may be further exemplified as processesfor preparing hybrid tomato seed or plants, wherein a first tomato plantis crossed with a second tomato plant of a different, distinct genotypeto provide a hybrid that has, as one of its parents, a plant of tomatoline FIRKL11-4118 or tomato line FIRKL12-4123. In these processes,crossing will result in the production of seed. The seed productionoccurs regardless of whether the seed is collected or not.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first step in “crossing”comprises planting seeds of a first and second parent tomato plant,often in proximity so that pollination will occur for example, mediatedby insect vectors. Alternatively, pollen can be transferred manually.Where the plant is self-pollinated, pollination may occur without theneed for direct human intervention other than plant cultivation.

A second step may comprise cultivating or growing the seeds of first andsecond parent tomato plants into plants that bear flowers. A third stepmay comprise preventing self-pollination of the plants, such as byemasculating the flowers (i.e., killing or removing the pollen).

A fourth step for a hybrid cross may comprise cross-pollination betweenthe first and second parent tomato plants. Yet another step comprisesharvesting the seeds from at least one of the parent tomato plants. Theharvested seed can be grown to produce a tomato plant or hybrid tomatoplant.

The present invention also provides the tomato seeds and plants producedby a process that comprises crossing a first parent tomato plant with asecond parent tomato plant, wherein at least one of the first or secondparent tomato plants is a plant of tomato hybrid DR7962TH and/or tomatolines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123. In one embodiment of the invention,tomato seed and plants produced by the process are first generation (F₁)hybrid tomato seed and plants produced by crossing a plant in accordancewith the invention with another, distinct plant. The present inventionfurther contemplates plant parts of such an F₁ hybrid tomato plant, andmethods of use thereof. Therefore, certain exemplary embodiments of theinvention provide an F₁ hybrid tomato plant and seed thereof.

In still yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method ofproducing a plant derived from hybrid DR7962TH and/or tomato linesFIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123, the method comprising the steps of, (a)preparing a progeny plant derived from hybrid DR7962TH and/or tomatolines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123, wherein said preparing comprisescrossing a plant of the hybrid DR7962TH and/or tomato lines FIRKL11-4118and FIRKL12-4123 with a second plant; and (b) crossing the progeny plantwith itself or a second plant to produce a seed of a progeny plant of asubsequent generation. In further embodiments, the method mayadditionally comprise, (c) growing a progeny plant of a subsequentgeneration from said seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generationand crossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself ora second plant; and repeating the steps for an additional 3-10generations to produce a plant derived from hybrid DR7962TH and/ortomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123. The plant derived fromhybrid DR7962TH and/or tomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123 may bean inbred line, and the aforementioned repeated crossing steps may bedefined as comprising sufficient inbreeding to produce the inbred line.In the method, it may be desirable to select particular plants resultingfrom step (c) for continued crossing according to steps (b) and (c). Byselecting plants having one or more desirable traits, a plant derivedfrom hybrid DR7962TH and/or tomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123is obtained which possesses some of the desirable traits of theline/hybrid as well as potentially other selected traits.

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides a method ofproducing food or feed comprising: (a) obtaining a plant of tomatohybrid DR7962TH and/or tomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123,wherein the plant has been cultivated to maturity, and (b) collecting atleast one tomato from the plant.

In still yet another aspect of the invention, the genetic complement oftomato hybrid DR7962TH and/or tomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123is provided. The phrase “genetic complement” is used to refer to theaggregate of nucleotide sequences, the expression of which sequencesdefines the phenotype of, in the present case, a tomato plant, or a cellor tissue of that plant. A genetic complement thus represents thegenetic makeup of a cell, tissue or plant, and a hybrid geneticcomplement represents the genetic make up of a hybrid cell, tissue orplant. The invention thus provides tomato plant cells that have agenetic complement in accordance with the tomato plant cells disclosedherein, and seeds and plants containing such cells.

Plant genetic complements may be assessed by genetic marker profiles,and by the expression of phenotypic traits that are characteristic ofthe expression of the genetic complement, e.g., isozyme typing profiles.It is understood that hybrid DR7962TH and/or tomato lines FIRKL11-4118and FIRKL12-4123 could be identified by any of the many well knowntechniques such as, for example, Simple Sequence Length Polymorphisms(SSLPs) (Williams et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 1 8:6531-6535, 1990),Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), DNA AmplificationFingerprinting (DAF), Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs),Arbitrary Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), Amplified FragmentLength Polymorphisms (AFLPs) (EP 534 858, specifically incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety), and Single NucleotidePolymorphisms (SNPs) (Wang et al., Science, 280:1077-1082, 1998).

In still yet another aspect, the present invention provides hybridgenetic complements, as represented by tomato plant cells, tissues,plants, and seeds, formed by the combination of a haploid geneticcomplement of a tomato plant of the invention with a haploid geneticcomplement of a second tomato plant, preferably, another, distincttomato plant. In another aspect, the present invention provides a tomatoplant regenerated from a tissue culture that comprises a hybrid geneticcomplement of this invention.

Any embodiment discussed herein with respect to one aspect of theinvention applies to other aspects of the invention as well, unlessspecifically noted.

The term “about” is used to indicate that a value includes the standarddeviation of the mean for the device or method being employed todetermine the value. The use of the term “or” in the claims is used tomean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives onlyor the alternatives are mutually exclusive. When used in conjunctionwith the word “comprising” or other open language in the claims, thewords “a” and “an” denote “one or more,” unless specifically notedotherwise. The terms “comprise,” “have” and “include” are open-endedlinking verbs. Any forms or tenses of one or more of these verbs, suchas “comprises,” “comprising,” “has,” “having,” “includes” and“including,” are also open-ended. For example, any method that“comprises,” “has” or “includes” one or more steps is not limited topossessing only those one or more steps and also covers other unlistedsteps. Similarly, any plant that “comprises,” “has” or “includes” one ormore traits is not limited to possessing only those one or more traitsand covers other unlisted traits.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description. It should beunderstood, however, that the detailed description and any specificexamples provided, while indicating specific embodiments of theinvention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changesand modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from this detaileddescription.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides methods and compositions relating to plants,seeds and derivatives of tomato hybrid DR7962TH, tomato lineFIRKL11-4118 and tomato line FIRKL12-4123.

Tomato hybrid DR7962TH is an indeterminate variety with medium largeround fruits. It is a so called TOV type. DR7962TH has a heavy set ofuniform-sized fruits and long clusters. The fruits colors are from greento red in ripened stage. The fruits are firm and can be shipped overlong distance. DR7962TH is suited for under glasshouse (heated)conditions in soil as well as on rockwool and can be grown under plasticin warmer areas. DR7962TH can be used for long crops (6-12 monthscrops). DR7962TH can show some blocky fruits when grown under low lightlevels. DR7962TH shows best performance in area's with more light.

Tomato hybrid DR7962TH bears uniform clusters with fruits of 140-180grams (depending on the growing conditions) with good flavor. Fruits areround and have uniform coloring, mostly with 4-5 locules. DR7962TH isresistant against ToMV (race 0,1,2) Verticilium dahliae, Fusariumoxysporum (races 1 and 2), Fusarium crown rot, and Fulvia fulvum (racesA-E).

A. ORIGIN AND BREEDING HISTORY OF TOMATO HYBRID DR7962TH

The parents of hybrid DR7962TH are FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123. Theparent lines are uniform and stable, as is a hybrid produced therefrom.A small percentage of variants can occur within commercially acceptablelimits for almost any characteristic during the course of repeatedmultiplication. However no variants are expected.

B. PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF TOMATO HYBRIDDR7962TH, TOMATO LINE FIRKL11-4118 AND TOMATO LINE FIRKL12-4123

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a plant having the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of tomato hybrid DR7962TH and the parent lines thereof.A description of the physiological and morphological characteristics ofsuch plants is presented in Tables 1-3.

TABLE 1 Physiological and Morphological Characteristics of HybridDR7962TH Comparison: Characteristic DR7962TH Komeett 1. Seedlinganthocyanin in hypocotyl of 2-15 cm present present seedling habit of3-4 week old seedling normal normal 2. Mature Plant height 152.1 cm142.5 cm growth type indeterminate indeterminate form compact compactsize of canopy (compared to others of medium medium similar type) habitsemi-erect semi-erect 3. Stem anthocyanin coloration absent or very weakabsent or very weak length of internode (only long long indeterminategrowth type varieties) height (only indeterminate growth long mediumtype varieties) branching intermediate intermediate branching atcotyledon or first leafy absent absent node number of nodes betweenfirst 4 to 7 4 to 7 inflorescence number of nodes between early (1^(st)to 1 to 4 1 to 4 2^(nd), 2^(nd) to 3^(rd)) inflorescences number ofnodes between later 1 to 4 1 to 4 developing inflorescences pubescenceon younger stems sparsely hairy sparsely hairy (scattered long hairs)(scattered long hairs) 4. Leaf type (mature leaf beneath the 3^(rd)tomato tomato inflorescence) type of blade bipinnate bipinnateMorphology (mature leaf beneath the 1   2   3rd inflorescence) marginsof major leaflets (mature leaf deeply toothed or shallowly toothed orbeneath the 3^(rd) inflorescence) cut, sps. toward base scallopedmarginal rolling or wiltiness (mature moderate slight leaf beneath the3^(rd) inflorescence) onset of leaflet rolling (mature leaf mid seasonmid season beneath the 3rd inflorescence) surface of major leaflets(mature leaf rugose (bumpy or rugose (bumpy or beneath the 3^(rd)inflorescence) veiny) veiny) pubescence (mature leaf beneath the normalnormal 3^(rd) inflorescence) attitude (*refer to photos in TG ifdrooping semi-drooping needed) length medium medium width medium narrowsize of leaflets large large intensity of green color dark darkglossiness weak weak blistering (refer to TG for explanation medium weakof the difference between blistering and creasing) attitude of petioleof leaflet in relation to horizontal semi-erect main axis 5.Inflorescence type mainly uniparous mainly uniparous type (3^(rd)inflorescence) (make simple simple observations on the 3rdinflorescence) average number of flowers in  4.55 4.9 inflorescence(3^(rd) inflorescence) Flower color yellow yellow calyx normal (lobesawl normal (lobes awl shaped) shaped) corolla color yellow yellowanthers all fused into tube all fused into tube fasciation (1^(st)flower of 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) absent absent inflorescence) Pedicel: length(only varieties with short short peduncle abscission layer present) 7.Fruit surface moderately rough or slightly rough ribbed base color(mature-green stage) yellow green yellow green pattern (mature-greenstage) uniform green uniform green green shoulder (before maturity)absent absent intensity of green color excluding light light shoulder(before maturity) green stripes (before maturity) absent/present absentsize medium large ratio length/diameter very elongated very elongatedtypical shape in longitudinal section 2   1   (3^(rd) fruit of 2^(nd) or3^(rd) cluster) shape in longitudinal section oblate flattened shape oftransverse/cross section (3^(rd) angular flattened fruit of 2^(nd) or3^(rd) cluster) shape of blossom end flat indented shape of stem end(3rd fruit of 2nd or indented indented 3rd cluster) shape of blossom endindented to flat indented shape of pistil scar (3^(rd) fruit of 2^(nd)or stellate stellate 3^(rd) cluster) ribbing at peduncle end weak absentor very weak depression at peduncle end weak weak size of stem/pedunclescar large medium size of blossom scar small small point of detachmentof fruit at harvest at calyx attachment at calyx attachment (3^(rd)fruit of 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) cluster) length of dedicel (from joint tocalyx 9.6 10.4 mm attachment) length of mature fruit (stem axis) 62.2 mm57.3 mm diameter of fruit at widest point 72.1 mm 67.9 mm weight ofmature fruit 177.7 gm 148.2 gm core coreless (absent or coreless (absentor smaller than 6 × 6 mm) smaller than 6 × 6 mm) diameter of core incross section in medium medium relation to total diameter number oflocules three and four three and four number of locules (*refer to TGfor three and four three and four pictures of locules) color, full ripered red color (at maturity) red red flesh color, full-ripe red/crimsonred/crimson color of flesh (at maturity) yellow yellow flesh color withlighter and with lighter and darker darker areas in walls areas in walllocular gel color of table-ripe fruit yellow yellow firmness soft softshelf life long very long time of flowering medium early time ofmaturity late late ripening blossom-to-stem end blossom-to-stem endripening uniformity outside in epidermis color yellow yellow epidermisnormal easy-peel epidermis texture average tender thickness of pericarp(in millimeters) 9.5 mm 9.2 mm thickness of pericarp very thick verythick sensitivity to slivering insensitive insensitive 11. Phenologyseeding to 50% flow (1 open on 50% 47   47   of plants) seeding to onceover harvest (if 112    105    applicable) Fruiting Season long long 12.Adaptation culture greenhouse greenhouse 10. Chemistry and Compositionof Full-Ripe Fruits pH 4.5 4.4 titratable acidity, as % citric 6.0 5.5total solids (dry matter, seeds and skin 5.4 4.6 removed) soluble Solidsas °Brix 4.4 3.8 *These are typical values. Values may vary due toenvironment. Other values that are substantially equivalent are alsowithin the scope of the invention.

TABLE 2 Physiological and Morphological Characteristics of HybridFIRKL11-4118 Comparison: Characteristic FIRKL11-4118 Komeett 1. Seedlinganthocyanin in hypocotyl of 2-15 cm present present seedling habit of3-4 week old seedling normal normal 2. Mature Plant height 148.4 cm142.5 cm growth type indeterminate indeterminate form compact compactsize of canopy (compared to others of medium medium similar type) habitsemi-erect semi-erect 3. Stem anthocyanin coloration absent or very weakabsent or very weak length of internode (only long long indeterminategrowth type varieties) height (only indeterminate growth medium mediumtype varieties) branching intermediate intermediate branching atcotyledon or first leafy absent absent node number of nodes betweenfirst 4 to 7 4 to 7 inflorescence number of nodes between early (1^(st)to 1 to 4 1 to 4 2^(nd), 2^(nd) to 3^(rd)) inflorescences number ofnodes between later 1 to 4 1 to 4 developing inflorescences pubescenceon younger stems sparsely hairy sparsely hairy (scattered long hairs)(scattered long hairs) 4. Leaf type (mature leaf beneath the 3^(rd)tomato tomato inflorescence) type of blade bipinnate bipinnateMorphology (mature leaf beneath the 2   2   3rd inflorescence) marginsof major leaflets (mature leaf deeply toothed or shallowly toothed orbeneath the 3^(rd) inflorescence) cut, sps. toward base scallopedmarginal rolling or wiltiness (mature moderate slight leaf beneath the3^(rd) inflorescence) onset of leaflet rolling (mature leaf mid seasonmid season beneath the 3rd inflorescence) surface of major leaflets(mature leaf rugose (bumpy or rugose (bumpy or beneath the 3^(rd)inflorescence) veiny) veiny) pubescence (mature leaf beneath the normalnormal 3^(rd) inflorescence) attitude (*refer to photos in TG ifdrooping semi-drooping needed) length long medium width medium narrowsize of leaflets large large intensity of green color dark darkglossiness weak weak blistering (refer to TG for explanation medium weakof the difference between blistering and creasing) attitude of petioleof leaflet in relation to semi-erect semi-erect main axis 5.Inflorescence type mainly uniparous mainly uniparous type (3^(rd)inflorescence) (make simple simple observations on the 3rdinflorescence) average number of flowers in 5.7 4.9 inflorescence(3^(rd) inflorescence) leafy or “running” inflorescence (3 occasionaloccasional inflorescence) Flower color yellow yellow calyx normal (lobesawl normal (lobes awl shaped) shaped) calyx-lobes distinctly longerdistinctly longer than corolla than corolla corolla color yellow yellowstyle pubescence sparse sparse anthers all fused into tube all fusedinto tube fasciation (1^(st) flower of 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) absent absentinflorescence) Peduncle: abscission layer absent (jointless) present(pedicellate) 7. Fruit surface moderately rough or slightly rough ribbedbase color (mature-green stage) yellow green yellow green pattern(mature-green stage) uniform green uniform green green shoulder (beforematurity) absent absent intensity of green color excluding medium lightshoulder (before maturity) green stripes (before maturity) absent absentsize large large ratio length/diameter very elongated very elongatedtypical shape in longitudinal section 1   1   (3^(rd) fruit of 2^(nd) or3^(rd) cluster) shape in longitudinal section flattened flattened shapeof transverse/cross section (3^(rd) angular flattened fruit of 2^(nd) or3^(rd) cluster) shape of blossom end flat indented shape of stem end(3rd fruit of 2nd or indented indented 3rd cluster) shape of blossom endindented to flat indented shape of pistil scar (3^(rd) fruit of 2^(nd)or linear stellate 3^(rd) cluster) ribbing at peduncle end weak absentor very weak depression at peduncle end weak weak size of stem/pedunclescar medium medium size of blossom scar small small point of detachmentof fruit at harvest at calyx attachment at calyx attachment (3^(rd)fruit of 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) cluster) length of mature fruit (stem axis)60.4 mm 57.3 mm diameter of fruit at widest point 65.8 mm 67.9 mm weightof mature fruit 142.6 gm 148.2 gm core coreless (absent or coreless(absent or smaller than 6 × 6 mm) smaller than 6 × 6 mm) diameter ofcore in cross section in medium medium relation to total diameter numberof locules two three and four number of locules (*refer to TG for onlytwo three and four pictures of locules) color, full ripe red red color(at maturity) red red flesh color, full-ripe red/crimson red/crimsoncolor of flesh (at maturity) yellow yellow flesh color with lighter andwith lighter and darker areas in walls darker areas in wall locular gelcolor of table-ripe fruit yellow yellow firmness soft soft shelf lifevery long very long time of flowering medium early time of maturity latelate ripening blossom-to-stem end blossom-to-stem end ripeninguniformity outside in epidermis color yellow yellow epidermis normaleasy-peel epidermis texture average tender thickness of pericarp (inmillimeters) 8.8 mm 9.2 mm thickness of pericarp very thick very thicksensitivity to slivering insensitive insensitive 11. Phenology seedingto 50% flow (1 open on 50% 47   47   of plants) seeding to once overharvest (if 112    105    applicable) Fruiting Season long long 12.Adaptation culture greenhouse greenhouse machine harvest not adapted notadapted 10. Chemistry and Composition of Full-Ripe Fruits pH 4.4 4.4titratable acidity, as % citric 6.9 5.5 total solids (dry matter, seedsand skin 5.4 4.6 removed) soluble Solids as °Brix 4.8 3.8 *These aretypical values. Values may vary due to environment. Other values thatare substantially equivalent are also within the scope of the invention.

TABLE 3 Physiological and Morphological Characteristics of HybridFIRKL12-4123 Comparison: Characteristic FIRKL12-4123 Komeett 1. Seedlinganthocyanin in hypocotyl of 2-15 cm present present seedling habit of3-4 week old seedling normal normal 2. Mature Plant height 128.5 cm142.5 cm growth type indeterminate indeterminate form compact compactsize of canopy (compared to others of medium medium similar type) habitsemi-erect semi-erect 3. Stem anthocyanin coloration absent or very weakabsent or very weak length of internode (only long long indeterminategrowth type varieties) height (only indeterminate growth medium mediumtype varieties) branching intermediate intermediate branching atcotyledon or first leafy absent absent node number of nodes betweenfirst 4 to 7 4 to 7 inflorescence number of nodes between early (1^(st)to 1 to 4 1 to 4 2^(nd), 2^(nd) to 3^(rd)) inflorescences number ofnodes between later 1 to 4 1 to 4 developing inflorescences pubescenceon younger stems sparsely hairy sparsely hairy (scattered long hairs)(scattered long hairs) 4. Leaf type (mature leaf beneath the 3^(rd)tomato tomato inflorescence) type of blade bipinnate bipinnateMorphology (mature leaf beneath the 1   2   3rd inflorescence) marginsof major leaflets (mature leaf deeply toothed or shallowly toothed orbeneath the 3^(rd) inflorescence) cut, sps. toward base scallopedmarginal rolling or wiltiness (mature moderate slight leaf beneath the3^(rd) inflorescence) onset of leaflet rolling (mature leaf mid seasonmid season beneath the 3rd inflorescence) surface of major leaflets(mature leaf rugose (bumpy or rugose (bumpy or beneath the 3^(rd)inflorescence) veiny) veiny) pubescence (mature leaf beneath the normalnormal 3^(rd) inflorescence) attitude (*refer to photos in TG ifdrooping semi-drooping needed) length medium medium width medium narrowsize of leaflets large large intensity of green color dark darkglossiness weak weak blistering (refer to TG for explanation medium weakof the difference between blistering and creasing) attitude of petioleof leaflet in relation to semi-erect semi-erect main axis 5.Inflorescence type mainly uniparous mainly uniparous type (3^(rd)inflorescence) (make simple simple observations on the 3rdinflorescence) average number of flowers in 4.3 4.9 inflorescence(3^(rd) inflorescence) leafy or “running” inflorescence (3^(rd)occasional occasional inflorescence) Flower color yellow yellow calyxnormal (lobes awl normal (lobes awl shaped) shaped) corolla color yellowyellow style pubescence sparse/dense sparse anthers all fused into tubeall fused into tube fasciation (1^(st) flower of 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) absentabsent inflorescence) Peduncle: abscission layer present (pedicellate)present (pedicellate) Pedicel: length short short 7. Fruit surfacemoderately rough or slightly rough ribbed base color (mature-greenstage) light green yellow green pattern (mature-green stage) uniformgreen uniform green green shoulder (before maturity) absent absentintensity of green color excluding light light shoulder (beforematurity) green stripes (before maturity) absent absent size large largeratio length/diameter very elongated very elongated typical shape inlongitudinal section 1   1   (3^(rd) fruit of 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) cluster)shape in longitudinal section flattened flattened shape oftransverse/cross section (3^(rd) flattened flattened fruit of 2^(nd) or3^(rd) cluster) shape of stem end (3rd fruit of 2nd or indented indented3rd cluster) shape of blossom end flat indented shape of pistil scar(3^(rd) fruit of 2^(nd) or linear stellate 3^(rd) cluster) ribbing atpeduncle end weak absent or very weak depression at peduncle end weakweak size of stem/peduncle scar medium medium size of blossom scar largesmall point of detachment of fruit at harvest at calyx attachment atcalyx attachment (3^(rd) fruit of 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) cluster) length ofdedicel (from joint to calyx 8.8 mm 10.4 mm attachment) length of maturefruit (stem axis) 63.4 mm 57.3 mm diameter of fruit at widest point 80.7mm 67.9 mm weight of mature fruit 223.8 gm 148.2 gm core coreless(absent or coreless (absent or smaller than 6 × 6 mm) smaller than 6 × 6mm) diameter of core in cross section in large medium relation to totaldiameter number of locules five or more three and four number of locules(*refer to TG for four, five or six three and four pictures of locules)color, full ripe red red color (at maturity) red red flesh color,full-ripe red/crimson red/crimson color of flesh (at maturity) yellowyellow flesh color with lighter and with lighter and darker areas inwalls darker areas in wall locular gel color of table-ripe fruit redyellow firmness firm soft shelf life long very long time of floweringmedium early time of maturity late late ripening blossom-to-stem endblossom-to-stem end ripening uniformity outside in epidermis coloryellow yellow epidermis normal easy-peel epidermis texture averagetender thickness of pericarp (in millimeters) 8.9 mm 9.2 mm thickness ofpericarp very thick very thick sensitivity to slivering insensitiveinsensitive 11. Phenology seeding to 50% flow (1 open on 50% 47   51  of plants) seeding to once over harvest (if 114    110    applicable)Fruiting Season long long 12. Adaptation culture greenhouse greenhouse10. Chemistry and Composition of Full-Ripe Fruits pH 4.4 4.4 titratableacidity, as % citric 5.0 5.5 total solids (dry matter, seeds and skin4.1 4.6 removed) soluble Solids as °Brix 3.5 3.8 *These are typicalvalues. Values may vary due to environment. Other values that aresubstantially equivalent are also within the scope of the invention.

C. BREEDING TOMATO PLANTS

One aspect of the current invention concerns methods for producing seedof tomato hybrid DR7962TH involving crossing tomato lines FIRKL11-4118and FIRKL12-4123. Alternatively, in other embodiments of the invention,hybrid DR7962TH, line FIRKL11-4118, or line FIRKL12-4123 may be crossedwith itself or with any second plant. Such methods can be used forpropagation of hybrid DR7962TH and/or the tomato lines FIRKL11-4118 andFIRKL12-4123, or can be used to produce plants that are derived fromhybrid DR7962TH and/or the tomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123.Plants derived from hybrid DR7962TH and/or the tomato lines FIRKL11-4118and FIRKL12-4123 may be used, in certain embodiments, for thedevelopment of new tomato varieties.

The development of new varieties using one or more starting varieties iswell known in the art. In accordance with the invention, novel varietiesmay be created by crossing hybrid DR7962TH followed by multiplegenerations of breeding according to such well known methods. Newvarieties may be created by crossing with any second plant. In selectingsuch a second plant to cross for the purpose of developing novel lines,it may be desired to choose those plants which either themselves exhibitone or more selected desirable characteristics or which exhibit thedesired characteristic(s) when in hybrid combination. Once initialcrosses have been made, inbreeding and selection take place to producenew varieties. For development of a uniform line, often five or moregenerations of selfing and selection are involved.

Uniform lines of new varieties may also be developed by way ofdouble-haploids. This technique allows the creation of true breedinglines without the need for multiple generations of selfing andselection. In this manner true breeding lines can be produced in aslittle as one generation. Haploid embryos may be produced frommicrospores, pollen, anther cultures, or ovary cultures. The haploidembryos may then be doubled autonomously, or by chemical treatments(e.g. colchicine treatment). Alternatively, haploid embryos may be growninto haploid plants and treated to induce chromosome doubling. In eithercase, fertile homozygous plants are obtained. In accordance with theinvention, any of such techniques may be used in connection with a plantof the invention and progeny thereof to achieve a homozygous line.

Backcrossing can also be used to improve an inbred plant. Backcrossingtransfers a specific desirable trait from one inbred or non-inbredsource to an inbred that lacks that trait. This can be accomplished, forexample, by first crossing a superior inbred (A) (recurrent parent) to adonor inbred (non-recurrent parent), which carries the appropriate locusor loci for the trait in question. The progeny of this cross are thenmated back to the superior recurrent parent (A) followed by selection inthe resultant progeny for the desired trait to be transferred from thenon-recurrent parent. After five or more backcross generations withselection for the desired trait, the progeny have the characteristicbeing transferred, but are like the superior parent for most or almostall other loci. The last backcross generation would be selfed to givepure breeding progeny for the trait being transferred.

The plants of the present invention are particularly well suited for thedevelopment of new lines based on the elite nature of the geneticbackground of the plants. In selecting a second plant to cross withDR7962TH and/or tomato lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123 for thepurpose of developing novel tomato lines, it will typically be preferredto choose those plants which either themselves exhibit one or moreselected desirable characteristics or which exhibit the desiredcharacteristic(s) when in hybrid combination. Examples of desirabletraits may include, in specific embodiments, high seed yield, high seedgermination, seedling vigor, high fruit yield, disease tolerance orresistance, and adaptability for soil and climate conditions.Consumer-driven traits, such as a fruit shape, color, texture, and tasteare other examples of traits that may be incorporated into new lines oftomato plants developed by this invention.

D. PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS

As described above, hybrid DR7962TH exhibits desirable agronomic traits.The performance characteristics of hybrid DR7962TH were the subject ofan objective analysis of the performance traits relative to othervarieties. The results of the analysis are presented in Tables 4-6.

TABLE 4 Performance Characteristics of Hybrid and Comparative Varieties.Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Variety 14 15 16 17 1819 20 21 22 23 Komeett 0.167 0.167 0.167 0.163 0.167 0.174 0.163 0.1830.178 0.172 Merlice 0.163 0.155 0.162 0.174 0.169 0.163 0.163 0.1610.163 0.161 DR7962TH 0.166 0.160 0.171 0.184 0.172 0.177 0.173 0.1810.180 Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Variety 24 25 26 27 28 2930 31 AFW Komeett 0.167 0.178 0.172 0.163 0.174 0.163 0.172 0.169 0.170Merlice 0.163 0.183 0.163 0.155 0.178 0.158 0.165 0.160 0.165 DR7962TH0.173 0.189 0.177 0.180 0.180 0.169 0.180 0.174 0.176

TABLE 5 Performance Characteristics of Hybrid and Comparative Varieties.Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Variety 14 15 16 17 1819 20 21 22 23 Komeett 2.0497 1.5683 2.6397 2.6474 2.55 2.91 3.18 2.96952.5503 2.1544 Merlice 1.7294 1.387 2.1389 2.238 2.55 2.52 3.04 2.24262.8053 1.6573 DR7962TH 0 1.8239 1.6214 2.2964 2.12 2.23 3.15 2.94982.9943 2.4543 Total Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week KilosVariety 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 M 2 Komeett 2.6863 2.5543 3.1015 2.432.8494 2.3409 2.3485 2.2748 45.802 Merlice 2.801 2.7918 3.2646 2.67032.7918 2.184 2.9854 2.5847 44.373 DR7962TH 2.3868 3.0173 3.0173 2.25182.9943 2.9268 2.7918 1.5539 42.578

TABLE 6 Performance Characteristics of Hybrid and Comparative Varieties.Komeett Nice plant; good balance, some missetting, firm fruits, MerliceUniform and good setting, a little deep round fruits, fruits a littleorange in color DR7962TH Large fruited, very productive, goodfruitsetting, some kingfruits, slightly orange, some boxy fruits

E. FURTHER EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In certain aspects of the invention, plants described herein areprovided modified to include at least a first desired heritable trait.Such plants may, in one embodiment, be developed by a plant breedingtechnique called backcrossing, wherein essentially all of themorphological and physiological characteristics of a variety arerecovered in addition to a genetic locus transferred into the plant viathe backcrossing technique. The term single locus converted plant asused herein refers to those tomato plants which are developed by a plantbreeding technique called backcrossing, wherein essentially all of themorphological and physiological characteristics of a variety arerecovered in addition to the single locus transferred into the varietyvia the backcrossing technique. By essentially all of the morphologicaland physiological characteristics, it is meant that the characteristicsof a plant are recovered that are otherwise present when compared in thesame environment, other than an occasional variant trait that mightarise during backcrossing or direct introduction of a transgene.

Backcrossing methods can be used with the present invention to improveor introduce a characteristic into the present variety. The parentaltomato plant which contributes the locus for the desired characteristicis termed the nonrecurrent or donor parent. This terminology refers tothe fact that the nonrecurrent parent is used one time in the backcrossprotocol and therefore does not recur. The parental tomato plant towhich the locus or loci from the nonrecurrent parent are transferred isknown as the recurrent parent as it is used for several rounds in thebackcrossing protocol.

In a typical backcross protocol, the original variety of interest(recurrent parent) is crossed to a second variety (nonrecurrent parent)that carries the single locus of interest to be transferred. Theresulting progeny from this cross are then crossed again to therecurrent parent and the process is repeated until a tomato plant isobtained wherein essentially all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of the recurrent parent are recovered in the convertedplant, in addition to the single transferred locus from the nonrecurrentparent.

The selection of a suitable recurrent parent is an important step for asuccessful backcrossing procedure. The goal of a backcross protocol isto alter or substitute a single trait or characteristic in the originalvariety. To accomplish this, a single locus of the recurrent variety ismodified or substituted with the desired locus from the nonrecurrentparent, while retaining essentially all of the rest of the desiredgenetic, and therefore the desired physiological and morphologicalconstitution of the original variety. The choice of the particularnonrecurrent parent will depend on the purpose of the backcross; one ofthe major purposes is to add some commercially desirable trait to theplant. The exact backcrossing protocol will depend on the characteristicor trait being altered and the genetic distance between the recurrentand nonrecurrent parents. Although backcrossing methods are simplifiedwhen the characteristic being transferred is a dominant allele, arecessive allele, or an additive allele (between recessive anddominant), may also be transferred. In this instance it may be necessaryto introduce a test of the progeny to determine if the desiredcharacteristic has been successfully transferred.

In one embodiment, progeny tomato plants of a backcross in which a plantdescribed herein is the recurrent parent comprise (i) the desired traitfrom the non-recurrent parent and (ii) all of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of tomato the recurrent parent asdetermined at the 5% significance level when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions.

New varieties can also be developed from more than two parents. Thetechnique, known as modified backcrossing, uses different recurrentparents during the backcrossing. Modified backcrossing may be used toreplace the original recurrent parent with a variety having certain moredesirable characteristics or multiple parents may be used to obtaindifferent desirable characteristics from each.

With the development of molecular markers associated with particulartraits, it is possible to add additional traits into an established germline, such as represented here, with the end result being substantiallythe same base germplasm with the addition of a new trait or traits.Molecular breeding, as described in Moose and Mumm, 2008 (PlantPhysiology, 147: 969-977), for example, and elsewhere, provides amechanism for integrating single or multiple traits or QTL into an eliteline. This molecular breeding-facilitated movement of a trait or traitsinto an elite line may encompass incorporation of a particular genomicfragment associated with a particular trait of interest into the eliteline by the mechanism of identification of the integrated genomicfragment with the use of flanking or associated marker assays. In theembodiment represented here, one, two, three or four genomic loci, forexample, may be integrated into an elite line via this methodology. Whenthis elite line containing the additional loci is further crossed withanother parental elite line to produce hybrid offspring, it is possibleto then incorporate at least eight separate additional loci into thehybrid. These additional loci may confer, for example, such traits as adisease resistance or a fruit quality trait. In one embodiment, eachlocus may confer a separate trait. In another embodiment, loci may needto be homozygous and exist in each parent line to confer a trait in thehybrid. In yet another embodiment, multiple loci may be combined toconfer a single robust phenotype of a desired trait.

Many single locus traits have been identified that are not regularlyselected for in the development of a new inbred but that can be improvedby backcrossing techniques. Single locus traits may or may not betransgenic; examples of these traits include, but are not limited to,herbicide resistance, resistance to bacterial, fungal, or viral disease,insect resistance, modified fatty acid or carbohydrate metabolism, andaltered nutritional quality. These comprise genes generally inheritedthrough the nucleus.

Direct selection may be applied where the single locus acts as adominant trait. For this selection process, the progeny of the initialcross are assayed for viral resistance and/or the presence of thecorresponding gene prior to the backcrossing. Selection eliminates anyplants that do not have the desired gene and resistance trait, and onlythose plants that have the trait are used in the subsequent backcross.This process is then repeated for all additional backcross generations.

Selection of tomato plants for breeding is not necessarily dependent onthe phenotype of a plant and instead can be based on geneticinvestigations. For example, one can utilize a suitable genetic markerwhich is closely genetically linked to a trait of interest. One of thesemarkers can be used to identify the presence or absence of a trait inthe offspring of a particular cross, and can be used in selection ofprogeny for continued breeding. This technique is commonly referred toas marker assisted selection. Any other type of genetic marker or otherassay which is able to identify the relative presence or absence of atrait of interest in a plant can also be useful for breeding purposes.Procedures for marker assisted selection are well known in the art. Suchmethods will be of particular utility in the case of recessive traitsand variable phenotypes, or where conventional assays may be moreexpensive, time consuming or otherwise disadvantageous. Types of geneticmarkers which could be used in accordance with the invention include,but are not necessarily limited to, Simple Sequence Length Polymorphisms(SSLPs) (Williams et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 1 8:6531-6535, 1990),Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), DNA AmplificationFingerprinting (DAF), Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs),Arbitrary Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), Amplified FragmentLength Polymorphisms (AFLPs) (EP 534 858, specifically incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety), and Single NucleotidePolymorphisms (SNPs) (Wang et al., Science, 280:1077-1082, 1998).

F. PLANTS DERIVED BY GENETIC ENGINEERING

Many useful traits that can be introduced by backcrossing, as well asdirectly into a plant, are those which are introduced by genetictransformation techniques. Genetic transformation may therefore be usedto insert a selected transgene into a plant of the invention or may,alternatively, be used for the preparation of transgenes which can beintroduced by backcrossing. Methods for the transformation of plantsthat are well known to those of skill in the art and applicable to manycrop species include, but are not limited to, electroporation,microprojectile bombardment, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation anddirect DNA uptake by protoplasts.

To effect transformation by electroporation, one may employ eitherfriable tissues, such as a suspension culture of cells or embryogeniccallus or alternatively one may transform immature embryos or otherorganized tissue directly. In this technique, one would partiallydegrade the cell walls of the chosen cells by exposing them topectin-degrading enzymes (pectolyases) or mechanically wound tissues ina controlled manner.

An efficient method for delivering transforming DNA segments to plantcells is microprojectile bombardment. In this method, particles arecoated with nucleic acids and delivered into cells by a propellingforce. Exemplary particles include those comprised of tungsten,platinum, and preferably, gold. For the bombardment, cells in suspensionare concentrated on filters or solid culture medium. Alternatively,immature embryos or other target cells may be arranged on solid culturemedium. The cells to be bombarded are positioned at an appropriatedistance below the macroprojectile stopping plate.

An illustrative embodiment of a method for delivering DNA into plantcells by acceleration is the Biolistics Particle Delivery System, whichcan be used to propel particles coated with DNA or cells through ascreen, such as a stainless steel or Nytex screen, onto a surfacecovered with target cells. The screen disperses the particles so thatthey are not delivered to the recipient cells in large aggregates.Microprojectile bombardment techniques are widely applicable, and may beused to transform virtually any plant species.

Agrobacterium-mediated transfer is another widely applicable system forintroducing gene loci into plant cells. An advantage of the technique isthat DNA can be introduced into whole plant tissues, thereby bypassingthe need for regeneration of an intact plant from a protoplast. ModernAgrobacterium transformation vectors are capable of replication in E.coli as well as Agrobacterium, allowing for convenient manipulations(Klee et al., Bio-Technology, 3(7):637-642, 1985). Moreover, recenttechnological advances in vectors for Agrobacterium-mediated genetransfer have improved the arrangement of genes and restriction sites inthe vectors to facilitate the construction of vectors capable ofexpressing various polypeptide coding genes. The vectors described haveconvenient multi-linker regions flanked by a promoter and apolyadenylation site for direct expression of inserted polypeptidecoding genes. Additionally, Agrobacterium containing both armed anddisarmed Ti genes can be used for transformation.

In those plant strains where Agrobacterium-mediated transformation isefficient, it is the method of choice because of the facile and definednature of the gene locus transfer. The use of Agrobacterium-mediatedplant integrating vectors to introduce DNA into plant cells is wellknown in the art (Fraley et al., Bio/Technology, 3:629-635, 1985; U.S.Pat. No. 5,563,055).

Transformation of plant protoplasts also can be achieved using methodsbased on calcium phosphate precipitation, polyethylene glycol treatment,electroporation, and combinations of these treatments (see, e.g.,Potrykus et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 199:183-188, 1985; Omirulleh et al.,Plant Mol. Biol., 21(3):415-428, 1993; Fromm et al., Nature,312:791-793, 1986; Uchimiya et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 204:204, 1986;Marcotte et al., Nature, 335:454, 1988). Transformation of plants andexpression of foreign genetic elements is exemplified in Choi et al.(Plant Cell Rep., 13: 344-348, 1994), and Ellul et al. (Theor. Appl.Genet., 107:462-469, 2003).

A number of promoters have utility for plant gene expression for anygene of interest including but not limited to selectable markers,scoreable markers, genes for pest tolerance, disease resistance,nutritional enhancements and any other gene of agronomic interest.Examples of constitutive promoters useful for plant gene expressioninclude, but are not limited to, the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV)P-35S promoter, which confers constitutive, high-level expression inmost plant tissues (see, e.g., Odel et al., Nature, 313:810, 1985),including in monocots (see, e.g., Dekeyser et al., Plant Cell, 2:591,1990; Terada and Shimamoto, Mol. Gen. Genet., 220:389, 1990); a tandemlyduplicated version of the CaMV 35S promoter, the enhanced 35S promoter(P-e35S); 1 the nopaline synthase promoter (An et al., Plant Physiol.,88:547, 1988); the octopine synthase promoter (Fromm et al., Plant Cell,1:977, 1989); and the figwort mosaic virus (P-FMV) promoter as describedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,619 and an enhanced version of the FMV promoter(P-eFMV) where the promoter sequence of P-FMV is duplicated in tandem;the cauliflower mosaic virus 19S promoter; a sugarcane bacilliform viruspromoter; a commelina yellow mottle virus promoter; and other plant DNAvirus promoters known to express in plant cells.

A variety of plant gene promoters that are regulated in response toenvironmental, hormonal, chemical, and/or developmental signals can alsobe used for expression of an operably linked gene in plant cells,including promoters regulated by (1) heat (Callis et al., PlantPhysiol., 88:965, 1988), (2) light (e.g., pea rbcS-3A promoter,Kuhlemeier et al., Plant Cell, 1:471, 1989; maize rbcS promoter,Schaffner and Sheen, Plant Cell, 3:997, 1991; or chlorophyll a/b-bindingprotein promoter, Simpson et al., EMBO J., 4:2723, 1985), (3) hormones,such as abscisic acid (Marcotte et al., Plant Cell, 1:969, 1989), (4)wounding (e.g., wunl, Siebertz et al., Plant Cell, 1:961, 1989); or (5)chemicals such as methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid, or Safener. It mayalso be advantageous to employ organ-specific promoters (e.g., Roshal etal., EMBO J., 6:1155, 1987; Schernthaner et al., EMBO J., 7:1249, 1988;Bustos et al., Plant Cell, 1:839, 1989).

Exemplary nucleic acids which may be introduced to plants of thisinvention include, for example, DNA sequences or genes from anotherspecies, or even genes or sequences which originate with or are presentin the same species, but are incorporated into recipient cells bygenetic engineering methods rather than classical reproduction orbreeding techniques. However, the term “exogenous” is also intended torefer to genes that are not normally present in the cell beingtransformed, or perhaps simply not present in the form, structure, etc.,as found in the transforming DNA segment or gene, or genes which arenormally present and that one desires to express in a manner thatdiffers from the natural expression pattern, e.g., to over-express.Thus, the term “exogenous” gene or DNA is intended to refer to any geneor DNA segment that is introduced into a recipient cell, regardless ofwhether a similar gene may already be present in such a cell. The typeof DNA included in the exogenous DNA can include DNA which is alreadypresent in the plant cell, DNA from another plant, DNA from a differentorganism, or a DNA generated externally, such as a DNA sequencecontaining an antisense message of a gene, or a DNA sequence encoding asynthetic or modified version of a gene.

Many hundreds if not thousands of different genes are known and couldpotentially be introduced into a tomato plant according to theinvention. Non-limiting examples of particular genes and correspondingphenotypes one may choose to introduce into a tomato plant include oneor more genes for insect tolerance, such as a Bacillus thuringiensis(B.t.) gene, pest tolerance such as genes for fungal disease control,herbicide tolerance such as genes conferring glyphosate tolerance, andgenes for quality improvements such as yield, nutritional enhancements,environmental or stress tolerances, or any desirable changes in plantphysiology, growth, development, morphology or plant product(s). Forexample, structural genes would include any gene that confers insecttolerance including but not limited to a Bacillus insect control proteingene as described in WO 99/31248, herein incorporated by reference inits entirety, U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,052, herein incorporated by referencein its entirety, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,500,365 and 5,880,275, hereinincorporated by reference in their entirety. In another embodiment, thestructural gene can confer tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate asconferred by genes including, but not limited to Agrobacterium strainCP4 glyphosate resistant EPSPS gene (aroA:CP4) as described in U.S. Pat.No. 5,633,435, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, orglyphosate oxidoreductase gene (GOX) as described in U.S. Pat. No.5,463,175, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Alternatively, the DNA coding sequences can affect these phenotypes byencoding a non-translatable RNA molecule that causes the targetedinhibition of expression of an endogenous gene, for example viaantisense- or cosuppression-mediated mechanisms (see, for example, Birdet al., Biotech. Gen. Engin. Rev., 9:207, 1991). The RNA could also be acatalytic RNA molecule (i.e., a ribozyme) engineered to cleave a desiredendogenous mRNA product (see for example, Gibson and Shillito, Mol.Biotech., 7:125,1997). Thus, any gene which produces a protein or mRNAwhich expresses a phenotype or morphology change of interest is usefulfor the practice of the present invention.

G. DEFINITIONS

In the description and tables herein, a number of terms are used. Inorder to provide a clear and consistent understanding of thespecification and claims, the following definitions are provided:

Allele: Any of one or more alternative forms of a gene locus, all ofwhich alleles relate to one trait or characteristic. In a diploid cellor organism, the two alleles of a given gene occupy corresponding locion a pair of homologous chromosomes.

Backcrossing: A process in which a breeder repeatedly crosses hybridprogeny, for example a first generation hybrid (F₁), back to one of theparents of the hybrid progeny. Backcrossing can be used to introduce oneor more single locus conversions from one genetic background intoanother.

Crossing: The mating of two parent plants.

Cross-pollination: Fertilization by the union of two gametes fromdifferent plants.

Diploid: A cell or organism having two sets of chromosomes.

Emasculate: The removal of plant male sex organs or the inactivation ofthe organs with a cytoplasmic or nuclear genetic factor or a chemicalagent conferring male sterility.

Enzymes: Molecules which can act as catalysts in biological reactions.

F₁ Hybrid: The first generation progeny of the cross of two nonisogenicplants.

Genotype: The genetic constitution of a cell or organism.

Haploid: A cell or organism having one set of the two sets ofchromosomes in a diploid.

Linkage: A phenomenon wherein alleles on the same chromosome tend tosegregate together more often than expected by chance if theirtransmission was independent.

Marker: A readily detectable phenotype, preferably inherited incodominant fashion (both alleles at a locus in a diploid heterozygoteare readily detectable), with no environmental variance component, i.e.,heritability of 1.

Phenotype: The detectable characteristics of a cell or organism, whichcharacteristics are the manifestation of gene expression.

Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL): Quantitative trait loci (QTL) refer togenetic loci that control to some degree numerically representabletraits that are usually continuously distributed.

Resistance: As used herein, the terms “resistance” and “tolerance” areused interchangeably to describe plants that show no symptoms to aspecified biotic pest, pathogen, abiotic influence or environmentalcondition. These terms are also used to describe plants showing somesymptoms but that are still able to produce marketable product with anacceptable yield. Some plants that are referred to as resistant ortolerant are only so in the sense that they may still produce a crop,even though the plants are stunted and the yield is reduced.

Regeneration: The development of a plant from tissue culture.

Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) color chart value: The RHS color chartis a standardized reference which allows accurate identification of anycolor. A color's designation on the chart describes its hue, brightnessand saturation. A color is precisely named by the RHS color chart byidentifying the group name, sheet number and letter, e.g., Yellow-OrangeGroup 19A or Red Group 41B.

Self-pollination: The transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigmaof the same plant.

Single Locus Converted (Conversion) Plant: Plants which are developed bya plant breeding technique called backcrossing, wherein essentially allof the morphological and physiological characteristics of a tomatovariety are recovered in addition to the characteristics of the singlelocus transferred into the variety via the backcrossing technique and/orby genetic transformation.

Substantially Equivalent: A characteristic that, when compared, does notshow a statistically significant difference (e.g., p=0.05) from themean.

Tissue Culture: A composition comprising isolated cells of the same or adifferent type or a collection of such cells organized into parts of aplant.

Transgene: A genetic locus comprising a sequence which has beenintroduced into the genome of a tomato plant by transformation.

H. DEPOSIT INFORMATION

A deposit of tomato hybrid DR7962TH and inbred parent lines FIRKL11-4118and FIRKL12-4123, disclosed above and recited in the claims, has beenmade with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), 10801 UniversityBlvd., Manassas, Va. 20110-2209. The date of deposit was Sep. 4, 2014.The accession numbers for those deposited seeds of tomato hybridDR7962TH and inbred parent lines FIRKL11-4118 and FIRKL12-4123, are ATCCAccession No. PTA-121564, PTA-121562, and PTA-121563, respectively. Uponissuance of a patent, all restrictions upon the deposits will beremoved, and the deposits are intended to meet all of the requirementsof 37 C.F.R. §1.801-1.809. The deposits will be maintained in thedepository for a period of 30 years, or 5 years after the last request,or for the effective life of the patent, whichever is longer, and willbe replaced if necessary during that period.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail byway of illustration and example for purposes of clarity andunderstanding, it will be obvious that certain changes and modificationsmay be practiced within the scope of the invention, as limited only bythe scope of the appended claims.

All references cited herein are hereby expressly incorporated herein byreference.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tomato plant comprising at least a first set ofthe chromosomes of tomato line FIRKL11-4118 or tomato line FIRKL12-4123,a sample of seed of said lines having been deposited under ATCCAccession Number PTA-121562 and ATCC Accession Number PTA-121563,respectively.
 2. A tomato seed comprising at least a first set of thechromosomes of tomato line FIRKL11-4118 or tomato line FIRKL12-4123, asample of seed of said lines having been deposited under ATCC AccessionNumber PTA-121562 and ATCC Accession Number PTA-121563, respectively. 3.The plant of claim 1, which is an inbred.
 4. The plant of claim 1, whichis a hybrid.
 5. The seed of claim 2, which is an inbred.
 6. The seed ofclaim 2, which is a hybrid.
 7. The plant of claim 4, wherein the hybridplant is tomato hybrid DR7962TH, a sample of seed of said hybridDR7962TH having been deposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-121564.8. The seed of claim 6, defined as a seed of tomato hybrid DR7962TH, asample of seed of said hybrid DR7962TH having been deposited under ATCCAccession Number PTA-121564.
 9. The seed of claim 2, defined as a seedof line FIRKL11-4118 or line FIRKL12-4123.
 10. A plant part of the plantof claim
 1. 11. The plant part of claim 10, further defined as a leaf,an ovule, pollen, a fruit, or a cell.
 12. A tomato plant having all thephysiological and morphological characteristics of the tomato plant ofclaim
 7. 13. A tissue culture of regenerable cells of the plant ofclaim
 1. 14. The tissue culture according to claim 13, comprising cellsor protoplasts from a plant part selected from the group consisting ofembryos, meristems, cotyledons, pollen, leaves, anthers, roots, roottips, pistil, flower, seed and stalks.
 15. A tomato plant regeneratedfrom the tissue culture of claim
 13. 16. A method of vegetativelypropagating the tomato plant of claim 1 comprising the steps of: (a)collecting tissue capable of being propagated from the plant accordingto claim 1; (b) cultivating said tissue to obtain proliferated shoots;and (c) rooting said proliferated shoots to obtain rooted plantlets. 17.The method of claim 16, further comprising growing at least a firsttomato plant from said rooted plantlets.
 18. A method of introducing adesired trait into a tomato line comprising: (a) utilizing as arecurrent parent a plant of either tomato line FIRKL11-4118 or tomatoline FIRKL12-4123, by crossing a plant of tomato line FIRKL11-4118 ortomato line FIRKL12-4123 with a second donor tomato plant that comprisesa desired trait to produce F1 progeny, a sample of seed of said lineshaving been deposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-121562, and ATCCAccession Number PTA-121563, respectively; (b) selecting an F1 progenythat comprises the desired trait; (c) backcrossing the selected F1progeny with a plant of the same tomato line used as the recurrentparent in step (a), to produce backcross progeny; (d) selectingbackcross progeny comprising the desired trait and the physiological andmorphological characteristics of the recurrent parent tomato line usedin step (a); and (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) three or more times toproduce selected fourth or higher backcross progeny that comprise thedesired trait, and otherwise comprise essentially all of themorphological and physiological characteristics of the recurrent parenttomato line used in step (a).
 19. A tomato plant produced by the methodof claim
 18. 20. A method of producing a tomato plant comprising anadded trait, the method comprising introducing a transgene conferringthe trait into a plant of tomato hybrid DR7962TH, tomato lineFIRKL11-4118 or tomato line FIRKL12-4123, a sample of seed of saidhybrid and lines having been deposited under ATCC Accession NumberPTA-121564, ATCC Accession Number PTA-121562, and ATCC Accession NumberPTA-121563, respectively.
 21. A tomato plant produced by the method ofclaim
 20. 22. The plant of claim 1, further comprising a transgene. 23.The plant of claim 22, wherein the transgene confers a trait selectedfrom the group consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insectresistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, modified fatty acidmetabolism, environmental stress tolerance, modified carbohydratemetabolism and modified protein metabolism.
 24. The plant of claim 1,further comprising a single locus conversion.
 25. The plant of claim 24,wherein the single locus conversion confers a trait selected from thegroup consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insectresistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, modified fatty acidmetabolism, environmental stress tolerance, modified carbohydratemetabolism and modified protein metabolism.
 26. A method for producing aseed of a tomato plant derived from at least one of tomato hybridDR7962TH, tomato line FIRKL11-4118 or tomato line FIRKL12-4123comprising the steps of: (a) crossing a tomato plant of hybrid DR7962TH,line FIRKL11-4118 or line FIRKL12-4123 with itself or a second tomatoplant; a sample of seed of said hybrid and lines having been depositedunder ATCC Accession Number PTA-121564, ATCC Accession NumberPTA-121562, and ATCC Accession Number PTA-121563, respectively; and (b)allowing seed of a hybrid DR7962TH, line FIRKL11-4118 or lineFIRKL12-4123-derived tomato plant to form.
 27. The method of claim 26,further comprising the steps of: (c) selfing a plant grown from saidhybrid DR7962TH, line FIRKL11-4118 or line FIRKL12-4123-derived tomatoseed to yield additional hybrid DR7962TH, line FIRKL11-4118 or lineFIRKL12-4123-derived tomato seed; (d) growing said additional hybridDR7962TH, line FIRKL11-4118 or line FIRKL12-4123-derived tomato seed ofstep (c) to yield additional hybrid DR7962TH, line FIRKL11-4118 or lineFIRKL12-4123-derived tomato plants; and (e) repeating the crossing andgrowing steps of (c) and (d) to generate at least a first further hybridDR7962TH, line FIRKL11-4118 or line FIRKL12-4123-derived tomato plant.28. The method of claim 26, wherein the second tomato plant is of aninbred tomato line.
 29. The method of claim 26, comprising crossing lineFIRKL11-4118 with line FIRKL12-4123, a sample of seed of said lineshaving been deposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-121562, and ATCCAccession Number PTA-121563, respectively.
 30. The method of claim 27,further comprising: (f) crossing the further hybrid DR7962TH, lineFIRKL11-4118 or line FIRKL12-4123-derived tomato plant with a secondtomato plant to produce seed of a hybrid progeny plant.
 31. A plant partof the plant of claim
 7. 32. The plant part of claim 31, further definedas a leaf, a flower, a fruit, an ovule, pollen, or a cell.
 33. A methodof producing a tomato seed comprising crossing the plant of claim 1 withitself or a second tomato plant and allowing seed to form.
 34. A methodof producing a tomato fruit comprising: (a) obtaining the plantaccording to claim 1, wherein the plant has been cultivated to maturity;and (b) collecting a tomato from the plant.